Information, Advice and Guidance on Education, Training and Employment

We provide advice, guidance and counselling in confidence to refugee
women. We do this at RWA's offices and on an outreach basis. We
provide advice to individual women or group sessions at refugee
agencies, colleges and community organisations. We can offer advice on:

English Language Courses (ESOL)

Rights and Entitlements

Professional Re-qualification

Access to further and higher education

Statutory Financial Support and Charitable Trusts
that give educational grants

We also assist clients who cannot get their children accepted
by schools

In 2001 we became registered with the Community Legal Services and that enabled us to increase our services from the core advice on education, employment and training to all areas of general advice.

How to Contact Us

Our advice service is open Monday to Friday 9.30am - 5.30pm

Please call us for an appointment: 020 7923 2412

Our Advisers are Ayse Bircan and Jasmina Dimitrejevic.

Information, Advice and Guidance on Self-Employment

What Our Clients Say

FOWSIA from Somalia

A friend of mine first told me about RWA about 6 or 7 years ago. Ayse Bircan, the Education Adviser, was already working here at the time and she advised me to take up a training course in Childcare. This was 1997, and I enjoyed the training so much that I came back for another course when it finished. I liked the courses because I gained hands-on skills, but also because I met many women and made good friends. The women on my courses were very different and from all over the world. I think it is good that different women can come together.
RWA were helpful for me throughout the years because they offered me support and they provided me with the necessary skills to access the help that I needed.
I am originally a nurse by profession. I trained and gained my qualification back in Somalia and I worked there as a nurse before I had to flee the war. Jasmina, the Employment Adviser, tried hard to find work for me as a nurse in a British hospital. She called many places and requested applications forms and helped me to apply. Unfortunately, I have still not found work in my profession, despite having been here for seven years already. But I will not give up. I need more advice on the re-qualification process, because my qualifications are not recognised in this country.
I think that refugee women really need a lot of help and information. They need support to settle successfully in this country. We are tortured people, but when we come here we feel hope for peace and a new life.

HANIM from Turkish Kurdistan

I have known Refugee Women's Association for more than 4 years. I first heard about the organisation through one of my friends who told me that they run courses for refugee women. When I first contacted RWA, I joined a training course in Health and Social Care organised by Jasmina.
When I finished the course the advisers at RWA helped me to find a job in the social sector. It was wonderful: I applied for a job and I was invited to an interview and I attended it. The advisers had prepared me so successfully that it all went very well. I had learned everything I needed to know about how to find a job, and then I did find one! I have now worked in this post for three years. My work involves looking after children with special needs and I enjoy it very much.
I really gained a lot of confidence since I attended the course at RWA and then found a job. My English could still be improved, but I don't have much time to study because I also have two children and so much work to do at home. I hope that in the future I can take up English classes again.
I think RWA is doing a wonderful job. They should provide information about their work to as many people as possible: I know more people who need help and advice, and I am sure RWA would help them if only they knew about them. I think more people need to know about RWA because the organisation can really make a difference to refugee women's lives.

MIRA from Kosovo

The first time I heard about RWA was through my mother in September 2001. She had met Ayse Bircan, the Education Advisor, at Barking College. So, initially it was Ayse who introduced RWA to us and told us about RWA's projects and activities. Since then our contact with the organization has become stronger.
Although I live a bit far away from Hackney, coming to RWA has always been a pleasure because people there are so friendly and keen to help.
This year I did a Job Search Course through RWA. This lasted from April until May and by the end of it I was assigned a mentor. I think it is very effective to pair up refugee women who are out of work with a mentor. I think working and keeping in constant touch with my mentor has significantly improved my chances of finding work. But my mentor is more than that, she is also a close friend. And being in a foreign country this is really what counts most.
Now I work as a sessional interpreter, but I am hoping to find a permanent job in the voluntary sector. I think RWA is really helping the cause of refugee women who are out of work and who want so desperately to put their knowledge and experience to good use.

Links

Click here to learn more about
Education entitlements for refugees, people with Exceptional
Leave to Remain (ELR) and asylum seekers